Three friends take a pleasure trip to Brazil. One man behaves like an immature jerk. Another is in over his head with disreputable business associates. The third is the requisite goody-goody. Lives are changed, for good and bad, but maybe not quite enough.

“Carnaval,” by Nikkole Salter, now having its world premiere at Luna Stage, has been described as a play about sex tourists. That is only partly true, but the plot does involve prostitutes, pimps and the dangers of amateur pornography.

You may not know Ms. Salter’s name, but in her relatively brief career she has already been a creator of one work that turned into theatrical gold. When she was a graduate student at New York University, Ms. Salter wrote a performance piece about a pregnant, H.I.V.-positive teenage girl in Los Angeles. By chance, a fellow student, Danai Gurira, had written a somewhat parallel piece, about an H.I.V.-positive journalist, wife and mother in Zimbabwe. Combined, the two stories became “In the Continuum,” which opened in New York in 2005 (starring its authors) and reaped honors — among them, Obie and Outer Critics Circle Awards — while contributing to the history and awareness of women with AIDS.

As a writer, Ms. Salter has a different challenge with “Carnaval.” She must create three fully fleshed-out, distinctly motivated adult characters, navigate their fairly complicated actions and character development, if any, and deliver a textured back story. The pals are taking the trip in honor of Jared, who died two years before, at 27.

The success of this theatrical effort is mixed. I wish I could quote a few lines from the play, because Ms. Salter’s use of language is the script’s great strength. But if you do not appreciate four-letter words at the theater, you will not enjoy “Carnaval”; it makes the average David Mamet script sound like the Disney Channel. And one might argue that this story, which features African-American characters, could just as well have been about three white or Asian men, but if that had been Ms. Salter’s intention, a certain racial epithet would probably not have found its way into what seems like every sentence.

Photo

From left, Mr. Floyd, Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Smith.

The narrative can feel a little shallow. All three actors do well — directed by Cheryl Katz, the company’s associate artistic director, who generates a fierce energy — but their characters are little more than types.

Terrell Wheeler (who was singled out for his performance in a New York production of Katori Hall’s “Children of Killers,” about the Rwandan genocide) is Raheem Monroe, whose middle name might as well be Self-Important. He has arranged the trip with the help of his local connections and instructs his friends on how not to be taken advantage of.

Anton Floyd is the good guy, Demetrius, a married man who apparently thought the fellows were going to Rio to have a few drinks and watch parades. Dee, as he is known, also turns out to be a police officer, and it is a sign of the script’s imperfection that it is not clear whether we are meant to be shocked when he suggests escaping their criminal mess by bribing a few of Rio’s finest.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

The bad guy, Jalani, is played by Jaime Lincoln Smith, who was excellent a couple of seasons ago as an absent but sincere father in the National Black Theater’s “Seed.” Jalani is just a young, good-time guy who has not grown up enough yet to appreciate other human beings’ feelings or to think ahead, and he gets carried away. Jared was his older brother.

On the positive side, this is an emotionally ambitious work that may grow richer with time and development. And Ms. Salter’s script unfolds expertly, revealing backgrounds and secrets gracefully, adding some serious tension near the end.

But the man we really want to know is Jared. What made him so special that these three go to the trouble to gather together formally year after year? (The play’s coda is set 13 years later.) We are simply told that Jared had a charmed life and was envied, maybe even hated, for it. More, please.

This is a polished production with a sleek hotel-suite set by C. Murdock Lucas, fine sound design by Steve Brown and mood-enhancing lighting design by Jorge Arroyo. And cheers to whoever added the detail of having the men pour the contents of what looks like an authentic Brazilian bottle of cachaça, the sugar-cane liquor, over the balcony.

“Carnaval,” by Nikkole Salter, is at Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange, through March 3. Information: lunastage.org or (973) 395-5551.

A version of this review appears in print on February 17, 2013, on Page NJ9 of the New York edition with the headline: Heading for a Hotter Time in Rio Than Expected. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe